The Authority:What the heck?

[Black Rose]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

The Japanese have a "superhero" called Rapeman. His MO is that he goes about raping "evil" women (women that have basically upset the traditional male dominated power structure in some fashion). He is very popular. If you don't find that disturbing' date=' I think you're a slightly too liberal in views, sir. Not EVERYTHING is all right or should be accepted with open minded tolerance.[/quote']

 

I don't know if "the Japanese" would call Rapeman a superhero. Sailor Moon, maybe, possibly Evangelion, but not Rapeman. There's a very large percentage of people in Japan who like manga and anime with violent sexual material. To be honest, I can take it or leave it. I like sex as much as the next person, but the violence is usually too... gauche, I guess. It's like adding half a pound of red peppers to a stir fry; too much of what could have been an intriguing element.

 

Aside: the single most, um, amusing bit in Rapeman, apart from all these girls being sooooo grateful to have been raped (yeah, that happens ), was that Rapeman was a teacher in his Secret ID. Due to his nocturnal activities, he was almost always falling asleep in the middle of his classes. Okay, maybe I was the only one who thought it was cute.

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I like sex as much as the next person' date=' but the violence is usually too... gauche, I guess. It's like adding half a pound of red peppers to a stir fry; too much of what could have been an intriguing element.[/quote']

 

That's an amusing way to put it.

 

I used to have a girlfriend who said of hardcore porn:

 

For the first fifteen minutes, it'd make her want to do it. After the next fifteen minutes, it made her feel like she never wanted to do it again.

 

It struck me funny. Maybe you had to be there.

 

The point being that as long as it's harmless -- not involving damage to the person or property of a nonconsenting other -- then there's room enough in the world for everyone to find their entertainiment wherever they can. That's why they make more than one flavor of ice cream.

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I don't know if "the Japanese" would call Rapeman a superhero. Sailor Moon, maybe, possibly Evangelion, but not Rapeman. There's a very large percentage of people in Japan who like manga and anime with violent sexual material. To be honest, I can take it or leave it. I like sex as much as the next person, but the violence is usually too... gauche, I guess. It's like adding half a pound of red peppers to a stir fry; too much of what could have been an intriguing element.

 

Aside: the single most, um, amusing bit in Rapeman, apart from all these girls being sooooo grateful to have been raped (yeah, that happens ), was that Rapeman was a teacher in his Secret ID. Due to his nocturnal activities, he was almost always falling asleep in the middle of his classes. Okay, maybe I was the only one who thought it was cute.

 

That wasn't a indictment against the Japanese as a people. "Rapeman" is a disturbingly popular figure in manga. The whole rape fantasy overall is oddly popular. If he is considered a "superhero" or not is open to debate. I really can't say of the Japanese culturally share the concept of "Superhero" in the same way its seen in US or not. Allot of people apparantly consider his exploits amusing and entertaining. I've talked with some fans that seriously consider this guy a Hero putting uppity women "In their place". Japanese society seems to have some deep seated issues (like any I suppose). My point was though, that what is considered entertainment can by an indicator of a cultural problem. Not everything is created equal.

[Black Rose]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

That's an amusing way to put it.

 

I used to have a girlfriend who said of hardcore porn:

 

For the first fifteen minutes, it'd make her want to do it. After the next fifteen minutes, it made her feel like she never wanted to do it again.

 

It struck me funny. Maybe you had to be there.

 

No, I can see her point. I agree entirely. My experience with smut is that, after a while, it simply loses any reaction value. "Ooh, naked flesh, whoopie."

 

The point being that as long as it's harmless -- not involving damage to the person or property of a nonconsenting other -- then there's room enough in the world for everyone to find their entertainiment wherever they can. That's why they make more than one flavor of ice cream.

 

No, they make other flavors of ice cream because those who do not partake of the Holy Chocolate are wrong

[lemming]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Now how do we involve Captain America, Dr. Destroyer, Takofanes, and Batman in this...

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

So this "Authority" group took over the United States? Why'd they do that? Aren't there any supers out there to that tried to defend the US? And didn't that result in the deaths of allot of people that were just trying to defend their homeland?

 

Is the US some sort of "Evil Empire" in this setting? And have they taken over other countries run by dictators and lunatics? I hate to be corny but it sounds more super villian-y to me.

[Metaphysician]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Yeah, in the Wildstorm U, the US pretty much is an Evil Empire, not that any other government, corporation, or organization is any better ( with extremely few, very limited exceptions ).

 

As for supers to stop it, well, I don't know if any did, but if they did, the Authority probably killed them. Along with any normal troops that got in the way. Nevermind that, even if they are intent on killing someone, they have more than enough power to ignore or bypass those who'd try and stop them, especially the ( presumably ) average soldier, particularly conscripts. OTOH, it seems to be a tenet of the WSU that all military everywhere are also purest evil, filled with sociopaths or psychos that just want to blow stuff up.

 

. . .you know, WSU may compete with the antimatter Crime Syndikate Earth of the DC for "most utterly lacking in anything resembling goodness or sanity". . .

[RDU Neil]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Clever from the character's POV, not the writer's one. The way the author had set up the Renegade Doctor as unstoppable all-powerful mystic menace, it was clear he could only be defeated with a psychological trick the likes of which are usually employed in comics against Ultimate Power-yielding cosmic/mystic baddies like Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet.

 

From the reader's POV, the plot has holes so big a dinosaur could fall in: why there is so great a power differential between current and renegade doctor ? why having the power for sustained times had not the same effect on the renegade doctor the first time, back when he underwent his genocidal spree in the '60s ? How is he able to end the Earth's hostility against human race at a drop of a hat, when current doctor is utterly unable to do the same ?

 

Nonetheless, the story arc has some really good battle scenes, and catastrophe scenes, holding their worth with Ellis (especially the "God" arc), if you don't dwell too closely on the plot.

 

The point here is that since Ellis left the Authority, it has been crap. Millar, Waid, this new Robbie Morrison... none of which could write the series worth a damn. Ellis had mega-powerful people making big plays, upsetting the status quo... not from a sense of entitlement, but because they saw it as necessary. Millar came in and made them mean spirited, juvenile, insipid and crass... and those were the good qualities. Robbie Morrison is just not a good writer. All of them have these kneejerk ideas about "absolute power" without really considering how it would play out... and the internal consistency (as noted with the 2 doctors) is for shit.

 

I can only hope that when Brubaker takes over the title, it will get good again. Brubaker is brilliant (Sleeper, Gotham Central, etc.) and it will be intersting to see if he re-humanizes these characters, or if they can't be saved from becoming the adoloescent small-dick powerfantasies of Mark Millar, et al.

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Yeah, in the Wildstorm U, the US pretty much is an Evil Empire, not that any other government, corporation, or organization is any better ( with extremely few, very limited exceptions ).

 

As for supers to stop it, well, I don't know if any did, but if they did, the Authority probably killed them. Along with any normal troops that got in the way. Nevermind that, even if they are intent on killing someone, they have more than enough power to ignore or bypass those who'd try and stop them, especially the ( presumably ) average soldier, particularly conscripts. OTOH, it seems to be a tenet of the WSU that all military everywhere are also purest evil, filled with sociopaths or psychos that just want to blow stuff up.

 

. . .you know, WSU may compete with the antimatter Crime Syndikate Earth of the DC for "most utterly lacking in anything resembling goodness or sanity". . .

 

Or to jump genres, the Mirror Mirror Universe in Star Trek (How long before Enterprise uses that one?) . Its just naturally "bad" at its core. So this Authority would be be the best of the worst, huh? That reminds me of a couple of "Evil" campaigns I have played in. The gm seemed to striving to make us not so bad by making the world darker in comparison to us. Lead to some very dark storylines.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Ellis had mega-powerful people making big plays' date=' upsetting the status quo... [/quote']I'd say that under Ellis the Authority preserved the status quo, just like traditional comic book superheroes, saving the world from super terrorists and alien invaders.

 

Completely agree with everything else you said. Brubaker's excellent and yeah, Mark Millar definitely has a tiny dick. It's the only explanation.

[freakboy6117]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

The reason the authority took over the USA went like this TAO the super genius crime master from sleeper dumped tricked IO into believing they had stolen something from there long term storage {like that big room at the end of raiders of the lost ark}

 

The device in question seemed to be a bleed engine so they test it out on a probe which promptly turns into a blackhole and splats a shift ship belonging to the most advanced civilization in the multiverse a society of 100 foot librarians {so advanced that the carriers creators is in awe of them and have forbade the ship from even getting close to them} and also manage to fry Florida with blazing fragments of the alien ship.

 

Forced to decide between a war with the most advanced culture in the bleed and almost certain annihilation or a compromise they frame the POTUS {he was guilty but to solely responsible but they needed a patsy} and because this was only one in a string of times united states factions had almost resulted in the end of the world they decided it would be better if they could clean house before allowing free elections Especially as every time that had happened recently the guy had been a total sleaze.{I believe the last one had been in the KKK} so they take over in a mostly bloodless coup I think they kicked the asses of the CIA superhuman division but left the conventional forces mostly alone other than disabling there arms.

[Southern Cross]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

In fact it was this issue that confirmed my long-held suspicion that the Authority are nothing more than glorified supervillains.

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

In fact it was this issue that confirmed my long-held suspicion that the Authority are nothing more than glorified supervillains.

 

Why is that? Ruthless, arrogant and violent to be sure, but it seems like they were taking down fairly evil people and tried to avoid unessecary killing...if that is how the coup went.

[Chuckg]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

One of the problems is, according to the summary posted, the Authority wiped out the wrong targets -- as POTUS was, apparently, framed.

 

Furthermore, between the powers of the Doctor, the Engineer, and Jack Hawksmoor, they should have been able to *know* whether or not the man was guilty -- fug, the Doctor would have needed maybe ten damn seconds of mind-probing to confirm that -- and yet, as with most of the Doctor's prior massacres, he never bothers to check.

 

If I got any of the details wrong, feel free to correct me.

 

 

 

The other problem, of course, is that they didn't just cast down a crooked POTUS -- after all, even Captain America has done that much -- but that they then went on to take control of the US in his stead, rather than just let executive power flow down the rightful line of succession until they hit someone who was not an accessory to the original crime.

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

One of the problems is' date=' according to the summary posted, the Authority wiped out [b']the wrong targets[/b] -- as POTUS was, apparently, framed.

 

Furthermore, between the powers of the Doctor, the Engineer, and Jack Hawksmoor, they should have been able to *know* whether or not the man was guilty -- fug, the Doctor would have needed maybe ten damn seconds of mind-probing to confirm that -- and yet, as with most of the Doctor's prior massacres, he never bothers to check.

 

If I got any of the details wrong, feel free to correct me.

 

 

 

The other problem, of course, is that they didn't just cast down a crooked POTUS -- after all, even Captain America has done that much -- but that they then went on to take control of the US in his stead, rather than just let executive power flow down the rightful line of succession until they hit someone who was not an accessory to the original crime.

 

I had the impression the POTUS (I like that) was crooked and evil as hell anyway. But the taking over and staying in power is a little much.

[Chuckg]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I had the impression the POTUS (I like that) was crooked and evil as hell anyway.

 

... as is virtually everyone and anyone of consequence in the Wildstorm Universe -- it was the only way they could make the Authority look 'heroic'.

 

At least as far as I'm concerned, though, it didn't work. Even if you pile it next to plutonium-dusted PCBs for a comparision standard... well, the raw fertilizer might look 'better' than the radioactive toxic waste, but its still s**t, and it will still stink.

 

Seriously, of the last two real true-blue four-color good guys that I can remember...

 

* one of them got duped by a team of villains, had his Utopia Project go totally awry, and ended up killing himself in a stupid ragey head-on collision with an almost impenetrable forcefield

 

* and one of them got killed -- eaten by Xenomorphs, no less -- then resurrected, and then essentially sentenced to burn alive at the center of the sun, forever. Or something. I'd stopped paying close attention by that point in his personal arc, but I remember that roasting in the sun was definitely a part of it.

 

("The High" and "Winter", respectively.)

[Enforcer84]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Wildstorm made me bitter...

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I had the impression the POTUS (I like that) was crooked and evil as hell anyway.

 

There are basically two types of superhero universes: the ones where the politicians are all corrupt, and the unrealistic ones.

 

But the taking over and staying in power is a little much.

 

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

... as is virtually everyone and anyone of consequence in the Wildstorm Universe -- it was the only way they could make the Authority look 'heroic'.

 

At least as far as I'm concerned, though, it didn't work. Even if you pile it next to plutonium-dusted PCBs for a comparision standard... well, the raw fertilizer might look 'better' than the radioactive toxic waste, but its still s**t, and it will still stink.

 

Seriously, of the last two real true-blue four-color good guys that I can remember...

 

* one of them got duped by a team of villains, had his Utopia Project go totally awry, and ended up killing himself in a stupid ragey head-on collision with an almost impenetrable forcefield

 

* and one of them got killed -- eaten by Xenomorphs, no less -- then resurrected, and then essentially sentenced to burn alive at the center of the sun, forever. Or something. I'd stopped paying close attention by that point in his personal arc, but I remember that roasting in the sun was definitely a part of it.

 

("The High" and "Winter", respectively.)

 

Well, look on the bright side. At least it didn't involve sodomy with industrial equipment.

 

I've been meaning to ask what powers do these Authority guys have anyway? Beside the superior intellect needed to take over the US and build an gasoline powered dildo? (Yes, that is just seared into mind forever)

[freakboy6117]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

well he was responsible just not 100 percent they framed him so only one death was needed to ended the alien menace.

 

considering The US govermenmt had nearly caused the destruction of the earth twice in authority comics taking over might be seen as a better choice bnot to mention samctioning the rape torture and genrl punishment of the members of the authority. well they might feel a little justified though i still think santinis offer was a better choice

[Katherine]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

well he was responsible just not 100 percent they framed him so only one death was needed to ended the alien menace.

 

considering The US govermenmt had nearly caused the destruction of the earth twice in authority comics taking over might be seen as a better choice bnot to mention samctioning the rape torture and genrl punishment of the members of the authority. well they might feel a little justified though i still think santinis offer was a better choice

 

Assume I know nothing about the Wildstorm Universe (because I don't) who is Santini and what is his offer?

[Chuckg]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I've been meaning to ask what powers do these Authority guys have anyway? Beside the superior intellect needed to take over the US and build an gasoline powered dildo? (Yes' date=' that is just seared into mind forever)[/quote']

 

OK, the powers I remember.

 

Oh yes, each one has a 'Pantheon name' as well as their regular one, that I"ll append to the description.

 

 

Jack Hawksmoor, "The God of the Cities" -- ok, he basically talks to totemistic city spirits, only his origin involves alien technobabble and not magic. He can teleport from city to city by merging with their substance, stick to walls, has enhanced sensory powers, and cities tell him things -- like who walked on their sidewalks, or what the walls heard, or what the windows saw. He's also superhumanly strong and durable - usually, only somewhere slightly above Spider-Man levels, but if the opponent he's fighting is somebody whom the city or cities particularly loathe, he can get a power boost roughly into the Gray Hulk range.

 

He's the leader of this crew.

 

The Engineer, "The Maker" -- Angie Spica's blood has been replaced with some of the most advanced self-replicating nanotech assemblers on Earth-Wildstorm. Whatever technological device she can envision, they will create, as fast as possible out of native materials. She can also effortlessly cover herself with "living metal" armor, operate in space, and morph her nanites into any # of sensors and/or guns.

 

Angie once minigunned several companies of horse cavalry (long story) into swiss cheese as a casual action over several panels.

 

Apollo, "The Sun King" -- a cyborg designed to convert solar energy into flight, superstrength, optical solar blast, and invulnerability powers, Apollo is the group's resident Superman analogue. His only weakness is running out of stored solar energy, which is why he tries not to fight for longer than a couple of hours at night.

 

Apollo's best feat that I can remember is, umm, sterilizing the entire moon. But that exhausted him a lot.

 

The Midnighter, "Night's Bringer of War" -- another cyborg, he's got the most advanced hand-to-hand combat enhancements that money could buy, and his world's evil equivalent of Reed Richards(*) could build. About Spider-Man level in strength and speed, his skills literally go off the charts -- the quantum-computing combat computer in his head is so advanced that it's capable of running a million predictive fight scenarios before his opponent's synapses can twitch once, and contains virtually every weapons and hand-to-hand maneuver, technique, and/or skill known, and he can effortlessly execute them all. He's also very hard to hurt, heals quickly, and is a stone psychopath.... even by the Authority's standards.

 

As a benchmark, even Captain America would consider taking on 30+ fully-armed special operations soldiers in tight quarters to be a matter of at least moderate concern. To the Midnighter, this is something he considers contemptibly easy, with emphasis on the word 'contempt'.

 

Swift, "The Winged Huntress" -- a beautiful winged flying woman, Swift's powers are the ability to fly and fight at multimach speeds, low-end metahuman strength and durability, a nice outlay of vision and hearing powers, and the ability to sense air currents on a massive scale, giving her what's effectively radar sense about anything moving through the atmosphere. Normally only used at tactical ranges, she was once able to push it enough to MegaScale the entire planet, but that required a lot of 0 DCV Concentrating.

 

Swift's the relative lightweight of this group -- which, given that she could hand Captain America and Shang-Chi combined their heads in a bucket, provided that she used even 1/3rd of her IQ points in fighting, is a relative term.

 

The Doctor, "Earth's Shaman" -- his world's equivalent of the Sorcerer Supreme, the Shaman of Earth has his duty as the world's resident mystic guardian. Unlike the usual Archmage progression, on Earth-Wildstorm the power and knowledge are all self-contained -- you get picked, it drops on you, and shazam, suddenly you know it all. And if you ever have questions, just beam your butt into the Dreamtime, and all the spirits of Earth's prior Shamans -- well, except the one or ones who went to the Dark Side -- still await there to advise you.

 

The Doctor's powers are reality warping at plaht device levels, with an unspecified upper limit. To date, ripping the country of Italy (on an alternate Earth) off the surface of the planet and throwing it into space seems to benchmark that upper limit.

 

His literally cosmic power is partially balanced out by two facts. a) he's physically normal unless concentrating on his defenses, and this particular doctor is a heroin addict /and/ a blithering idiot, who also has the willpower of sponge cake. (Don't ask *ME* what the hell the mystic powers that be were thinking, 'kay?)

 

 

 

 

(*) Until proven otherwise, I hold with the theory that the creator of Midnighter's battle computer is Dr. Randall Dowling -- it's the only reasonable explanation as to why the hell Last Call, and all of International Op's other attempts to clone the Midnighter tech, never came anywhere close.

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

I've been meaning to ask what powers do these Authority guys have anyway? Beside the superior intellect needed to take over the US...

 

I realize you are being facetious, but as far as I know, they are as prone to error and misjudgement as anyone else. They are superheroes who don't have the luxury of plot immunity (at least, not to the extent that most other superheroes do -- it is, after all, still a superhero comic, so some plot immunity is inevitable).

[Metaphysician]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Or to jump genres' date=' the Mirror Mirror Universe in Star Trek (How long before Enterprise uses that one?) . Its just naturally "bad" at its core. So this Authority would be be the best of the worst, huh? That reminds me of a couple of "Evil" campaigns I have played in. The gm seemed to striving to make us not so bad by making the world darker in comparison to us. Lead to some very dark storylines.[/quote']

 

Actually, I would say the Authority are quite a bit less than the best in the setting. People like Planetary are way better.

[Chuckg]

Re: The Authority:What the heck?

 

Ah yes, I forgot the major plaht device the Authority has....

 

The Carrier

 

A 25-mile wide alien ship, designed to surf the interdimensional void known as The Bleed, the Carrier is a city unto itself. It's powered by a "baby universe", a cosmic egg. It's also got the ability to open Doors -- teleport portals capable of reaching anywhere in the solar system. And, of course, in addition to the most lavish quarters imaginable, it's got nigh-infinite amounts of storerooms, labs, and shops capable of whipping up WTF the writer needs at any given time.

 

With this super-monument-to-superhero-base-envy, the Authority has blipped in and out of both time, space, and the plot without having to bother with any logistical limitations that lesser mortals do.